1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to stacking breadbaskets, and storing and retrieving breadbaskets. More particularly, the invention relates to a system and method for storing baked products from the breadbasket in a retail environment such that consumers can readily access the stored baked product, but during transit, loss of the baked good(s) is substantially reduced or eliminated.
2. Background Art
It is now well-known in the operation of bakeries to provide a rigid supporting container or basket to protect baked good(s) from damage incident to handling and transport thereof. In most recent years, bakeries have produced a variety of different baked good(s), such as loaves, cakes, and hamburger buns. Each of these products is conventionally produced in different product heights, resulting in the need to economically protect those goods while avoiding the necessity for having different baskets for each product.
As a result, there have been developed a number of different multi-level stacking baskets which are advantageously designed to stack or nest at different levels according to the height of the product contained therein. For example, a second basket could be superposed over a first basket at a first, lower level for hamburger buns, and at a second, upper level for loaves of bread. The availability of multi-level baskets has reduced the need for an increased inventory of specialty baskets for each product. Examples of different stacking baskets include those shown in the following: U.S. Pat. No. 3,387,740 to Bockenstette; U.S. Pat. No. 3,420,402 to Frater et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 3,392,875 to Bockenstette; U.S. Pat. No. 4,093,070 to Stahl; U.S. Pat. No. 4,106,623 to Carroll et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 4,106,624 to Thurman; U.S. Pat. No. 4,106,625 to Carroll et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 4,189,052 to Carroll et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 4,211,327 to Stahl et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 4,320,837 to Carroll et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 4,440,302 to Ehrman et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 4,426,001 to Stahl et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 4,520,928 to Wilson; U.S. Pat. No. 4,523,681 to Kreeger; U.S. Pat. No. 4,600,103 to Tabler; U.S. Pat. No. 4,601,393 to Veenman et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 4,619,366 to Kreeger; U.S. Pat. No. 4,643,310 to Deaton et al.; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,759,451 to Apps.
As one of ordinary skill in the art of the present invention can appreciate, multi-level baskets or containers that are used to transport the baked products can also be used to display them in grocery stores, so that consumers can obtain the desired product directly from the container used to ship the baked product to the grocery store. A need quickly arose, however, for there to be an improvement to the known baked products container. The known baked products shipping containers had two equally high sidewalls and two equally high end walls. This contained the baked product during shipping, but made it difficult for the consumer to access the baked product once displayed in the grocery store. The consumer could access the upper filled container with relatively little effort, but once the upper shipping container was emptied, then the consumer either had to move the empty container out of the way, or get an employee of the grocery store to assist in moving the empty container from the stack of shipping containers with baked product in them. Only then could consumers access the baked good(s) remaining in the lower shipping containers. The problem with this approach, however, was that either the grocery store employees were kept busy moving empty storage containers, or the consumers moved the empty containers themselves, leaving the shipping containers strewn about the floor, or, the consumer would select an alternative product or even a different store.
An improvement was made, then, to the baked product shipping container. A window was added to one of the sidewalls, allowing the consumer access to the baked product. A window is a cut away portion of the sidewall, providing the consumer room to stick their hand and/or arm through the sidewall to reach baked good(s) throughout the entire area of the shipping container. Consumers could obtain the desired baked product, generally starting with the upper shipping container, and when empty, proceed to the lower levels. Now the consumer could access the baked product without having to move empty shipping containers stacked on top of the lower ones that still contained the baked product. While this was a significant improvement over the previously known baked product shipping container, a problem still existed. When transporting the shipping containers filled with baked good(s) from a storage area to the display/purchase area, baked good products would slide out the window area, and fall to the floor, where they would damaged and have to be discarded. This wasted product cost the producers and/or grocers a substantial amount of money in both lost product and labor to clean up the spilled baked product.
Thus, a need exists for a breadbasket shipping container that substantially inhibits or prevents baked product from spilling out of the container when being transported in the shipping container, yet still allows consumers easy access to the baked good(s) for purchase.